And it was perfect weather for a kite.
Our newest trailer upgrade involved a cheap projector on a tripod. Christopher added enough solar panels that he could power a movie projector at night, and so we gathered around the fire for a movie night. But our favorite part was our guests! Christopher nudged me part way through Minions to point out a little headlamp that had stopped along the road to the bathrooms to watch our movie. He was probably 2 or 3 years old. A bigger brother joined him a few minutes later, and eventually a Dad came to collect them. He told us that they were on a "no screen" week, so our movie was a true siren call for them.
Later, we turned around to see a whole group of young teenagers that had skipped any casual pretense and set up all of their camping chairs to form a back row. We loved it!
Of course, Moab is always a lot of hiking in the parks for our family.
We hiked the trail to Landscape Arch, with a pause at Pine Tree Arch along the way.
Might be time for a haircut. Or at least a hairdo!
We hadn't hiked up there since the kids were tiny.
We hiked just a little bit beyond the arch this time. The trail is more difficult as it continues on, but had some great views.
And that is the last view we have of the Junior Ranger vest. I was so happy when I snagged that (usually $30) vest at the thrift store for $3. But Jasmine took it off not long after this picture and we didn't realize it until we were a mile away.
Instead of freezing in the RV park pool like we had other years, we took our crew to the indoor, city pool. That was a huge upgrade, and it was still cheaper than staying at the old park!
She figured out selfies. Look out!
We even talked Tyler into going off the high dive! He did get pretty scared once he got up there (rightfully), but eventually took a jump off. He is so much braver than me.
We went into Canyonlands to explore on another day. I hadn't been in that park before. "The Island in the Sky" seemed like an odd name until we drove along the plateau and hiked to the edge of the rim.
It really felt like we were in an Island in the Sky.
I don't know if that video will work on here or not, but it is the only way to do that place justice. We hiked out on this 8 foot wide rock that literally had 1000 foot dropoff on 3 sides. I had to check on a map later. It was terrifying.
This arch is famous for sunrise pictures of the sun peeking through it, but what surprised us is how large it is on the side of that cliff. If you could see the other side, it is actually huge.
I think the part of the trip our kids liked the most, however, was something I spotted in a local newspaper. Backyard magic show!
It was in the backyard of a restaurant in town, and there were hay bales for kids to sit on and colorful folding chairs for adults. We have never been to a magic show before, so we aren't expects by any stretch, but we were really, really impressed with this guy. We have no idea how he did most of it.
There were only 4 or 5 families there, so each of our kids got to go up and participate in an act. They talked about it for weeks. Kaitlyn was very analytical, determined to figure out each trick, and especially the one she saw up close.
Tyler was 100% convinced by everything this guy did. When he "poked a hole" in Tyler's shirt and then fixed it, he was jumping up and down in shock. He inspected his shirt over and over all night.
And when the magician told Tyler to think very hard about his card that he picked, Tyler thought as hard as he could. On tiptoes.
He even read Christopher's mind, and hid money inside of lemons that I was holding for him.
He played the clam game with kids, rearranging the order and then seeing which coloring book hid the surprise, which was hilarious. Jasmine loved when he disguised the kids to make it harder to "recognize" them. So many giggles.
And of course, we did our annual bike trip to get a banana split.
We need to find a longer trail, since the kids have nearly mastered this one, and we'll have to get more banana splits. The kids are so big now that the entire thing was gone in 5 minutes.
